Abortion-inducing drugs could face restrictions

JACKSON — Mississippi could restrict the use of abortion-inducing drugs and make women visit a physician an additional time after using the drugs.

The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee approved Senate Bill 2795 Tuesday, sponsored by Picayune Republican Angela Burks Hill. It goes to the full Senate for more debate.

A companion measure died Tuesday in a House committee without a vote. Tuesday was the deadline for committee action in the chamber where a bill was introduced.

Hill’s measure says physicians can only prescribe the abortion-inducing drugs “mifepristone” and “misoprostol” according to directions from the Food and Drug Administration, instead of giving “off-label” instructions now common. It also would force a woman to return to a doctor’s office to take a dose of misoprostol, instead of taking it at home.